Cabinet with sliding flush doors



Aug. 11, 1959 c. A. ROLFE 2,899,252

CABIbiET WITH SLIDING-FLUSH DOORS Filed Jan. 18, 1957 INV EN TOR.

I CharlesAIRolfe BY 25 M 5 m? CABINET WITH SLIDING FLUSH DOORS Charles Addison Rolfe, Longview, Wash.

Application January 18, 1957, Serial No. 634,907

3 Claims. (Cl. 312-138) This invention relates to cabinets of the class provided with sliding flush doors.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a cabinet suitable for use in wardrobes and the like and provided with sliding doors which, when closed, stand in substantially the same plane.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cabinet of simple construction having inclined doors which may be maintained flush with each other when closed.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a cabinet having sliding flush doors which are easy to install, easy to open and close, and easy to remove when their removal is desired.

The manner in which the foregoing and other objects of this invention are accomplished will be apparent from the accompanying specification and claims considered together with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse, sectional view of the herein described cabinet taken along line 1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the herein described cabinet; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentary, sectional views taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the presently described cabinet with its doors closed and opened respectively.

Broadly stated, the cabinet of my invention comprises ceiling and floor members having a pair of parallel guideways running one along the inside face of the ceiling and the other along the inside face of the floor, longitudinally thereof. One of the guideways is ofiset horizontally from the other.

Inclined doors are slidably mounted in the olfset guideways. The doors are dimensioned to lie in front of each other when they are open and to gravitate into flush position when they are closed. Also, they may easily be inserted in and removed from the guideways when necessary.

Considering the foregoing in greater detail and with particular reference to the drawings:

The presently described cabinet includes a bottom 10, a top 12, a back 14, and a pair of ends 16 facing the outer margins of which are provided with parallel grooves 17. Top 12 preefrably is substantially wider than base 10.

The bottom of the cabinet is provided with a longitudinally extending guideway or track 18, the floor of which may lie at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal. Similarly, the ceiling of the cabinet is provided with a longitudinally extending guideway or track 19 which is parallel to track 18 but ofiset therefrom, preferably outwardly.

Doors 20, 22 having bevelled, supplementary meeting "ice edges are slidably mounted in guideways 18, 19. The doors are dimensioned to lie in the guideways in closed position, in which the outer faces of the doors are substantially flush, as indicated in Fig. 3, or in open position, wherein one of the doors lies behind the other, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Clearance is provided above the doors in the manner illustrated particularly in Fig. 1 so that the doors may be lifted in and out of the guideways.

Accordingly, the doors may he slipped into the guide ways, whereupon they lean outwardly, bearing against the side Walls of recesses 18', 19 in base 10 and top 12 respectively, as well as against the side edges of grooves 17 in end pieces 16. When it is desired to open one of the doors, it may he slipped easily behind or in front of its companion door. When it is desired to close the cabinet, the displaced door may be moved back to its original position, whereupon the innermost door gravitates forwardly until the two doors lie in flush position with their meeting, beveled edges in contact with each other.

Accordingly it will be apparent that by the present invention I have provided a cabinet of distinctive appearance having inclined doors which may be moved easily between closed, flush positions, and opened ofiset positions. Furthermore, the doors may be easily installed and removed as desired for repair or door interchange, and the entire cabinet is of simple, inexpensive construction.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A cabinet including a ceiling and floor, a transverse guideway in each of the ceiling and floor, and a pair of doors both slidably mounted in each of the ceiling and floor guideways, one of the guideways being positioned outwardly of the other guideway whereby the doors gravitationally rest in an inclined plane, the guideway in the floor having a door supporting surface extending substantially perpendicular to the inclined plane of the doors, the doors having an open overlapped position wherein one door is offset in a different plane from the other door and having a closed position wherein the doors are in side-by-side flush relation, the one door moving from its open oifset position to its closed flush position by gravitational forces resulting from the inclined disposition thereof.

2. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein the guideways comprise grooves cut in the ceiling and floor respectively.

3. The cabinet of claim 1 wherein the guideway in the ceiling is offset outwardly from the guideway in the floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 263,670 Bauch Sept. 5, 1882 920,158 Kurz May 4, 1909 2,227,854 Walters Jan. 7, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 114,476 Sweden July 10, 1945 498,575 Italy Sept. 30, 1954 

